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What the Standards say about feed
The "Livestock feed" standard (Section 205.237) of the NOP Standards states that organic livestock managers must provide 100% organically produced feed, including pasture and forage.
Organic feed can be expensive, so for the highest profitability, you'll want to raise as much as possible yourself. Many organic livestock producers move toward a more forage-based system as they improve the nutrient quality of their forages and find forage-based systems more economically profitable. Obviously some species, such as hogs and poultry, require a more grain- intensive diet than others.
NOP Standards also specifically prohibit the following feeding practices:
• Use of drugs or hormones as growth promoters
• Use of feed supplements or additives in excess of animals' nutritional requirements
• Feeding plastic pellets for roughage
• Feeding mammalian or poultry slaughter by products to mammals or poultry
• Use of any feed, feed additive or feed supplement in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
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Farmer-to-Farmer"If dairy roughages are not of high quality, it is very difficult to supplement your way to profit and success, since they make up over 50% of what a cow eats. One option … is to feed a higher percentage of concentrates and less roughage. This may yield more milk, but will be at great risk to your cows' health and long-term production. Some people buy in high-quality forage, but this will be expensive in the long term …. The best solution I recommend is this: Learn to grow high quality forages!"
~Gary Zimmer, president
Midwestern Bio-Ag
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